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The source files and a precompiled ZMachine storyfile of this adventure were recovered from a salvaged "Infocom hard drive", and made publicly available on GitHub in an effort to preserve them.

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Arthur

by Bob Bates

Arthurian/Fantasy
1989

(based on 28 ratings)
1 review

About the Story

"Whoso pulleth out this sword of this stone, is rightwise king of England."

In the days before Camelot, when magic and evil rule England, a sword sheathed in stone appears in a quiet churchyard. Engraved upon it are words which form your destiny. For you are Arthur, the son and true heir of the High King, Uther Pendragon.

But there is more to asserting your claim than wresting free the sword. The sword in the stone disappears - stolen by the evil King Lot. To win it back, you must develop the kingly qualities of wisdom, chivalry, and experience, qualities that will also prove you worthy of the throne. And you must do it all within three days, or Lot will usurp your legacy.

You are assisted by Merlin the Enchanter, who grants you the power to transform yourself into a variety of animals. Now you can explore the kingdom as no one has before: from the sky, from rivers and lakes, from on - and under - the earth. How you use this power, and how you solve the myriad puzzles that confront you, will determine your success in your quest.

Merlin's crystal ball reveals helpful hints. The undo command lets you rescind even the most foolhardy of decisions. Optional on-screen mapping gives your quest direction. A medieval Book of Hours has been magically cast into each and every Arthur package, along with the game disk and complete instructions.

Now prepare to claim your birthright as king born of all England. It's your chance to live the legend.


Game Details

Language: English (en)
Current Version: Unknown
License: Commercial
Development System: ZIL
IFIDs:  ZCODE-54-890606-8E4A
ZCODE-74-890714
ZCODE-63-890622
ZCODE-54-890606
TUID: zoohwv5nqye7up2t

Awards

34th Place - Interactive Fiction Top 50 of All Time (2011 edition)

Editorial Reviews

SPAG
Arthur was the ideal Graphic Interactive Fiction game, with graphics that helped set the mood and aided gameplay without taking over the game from the text part.
-- Graeme Cree

Arthur, while not an exceptional game, is still fun to play and well worth a look. By the time of its writing, Infocom had become adept at integrating puzzles and story, with the result that it mostly flows very well. Its deficiencies are mostly due to confusion over how to present the Arthurian legend, rather than a failure as interactive fiction.
-- Joe Mason

Despite the fact that it's set in the wilderness, it is teeming with characters. No. It's teeming with people. Yes, the people are stereotypes, but this is "Arthur," and what's a legend without stereo-- I mean, archetypes?
-- Walter Sandsquish
See the full review

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Member Reviews

5 star:
(7)
4 star:
(17)
3 star:
(4)
2 star:
(0)
1 star:
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Average Rating:
Number of Reviews: 1
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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
Enchanting, February 2, 2011

"Arthur" is a clever synthesis of a few of the earlier, usually neglected, legends surrounding the legendary King Arthur's youth. Arthur must prove to Merlin that he is ready to accept the responsibilities of a monarch. Empowered by Merlin's ability to transform himself into different animals, he slithers, burrows, and flies through the wilderness surrounding Glastonbury.

Despite the fact that it's set in the wilderness, "Arthur" teems with characters. Bob Bates quickly and cleverly etches the kind, but stern, Merlin with just a shade of menace; each of the variously-colored knights that stand in Arthur's way has a distinctive personality (my favorite is the Blue Knight, who must have just wandered over the hill from the filming of Monty Python's "Holy Grail"); and the evil King Lot is, well ... evil. The protagonist is, as usual, missing, but "Arthur" sports another dozen delightful personalities that I won't spoil for you. I will, however, tell you that Mr. Bates found room to pay homage to that first memorable IF character, Floyd!

"Arthur's" only weakness lies in its structure. After following Merlin's lead, the player could find himself wandering aimlessly through more than half of this sizable game. It's a problem that could have been easily fixed, and, as a matter of fact, I'll take care of it right now: (Spoiler - click to show) After you deal with the injustice Merlin mentions, walk as far southeast as you can. Listen to what the nice man in red says, and try to be agreeable.


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Polls

The following polls include votes for Arthur:

Birds in IF by Wendymoon
What games can you think of with birds in them? What's the bird? Is it important to the game?

Games with maps... by Xionix
I started playing Counterfeit Monkey, and I notice a good map is a way for us newbies to get into the game more easy. And I hate to draw so, are any other games that got a in-game map? It can be any genre.

Games with graphics and/or sound by eyesack
I couldn't find an easy way to search for this, so I figured I'd ask the hivemind: What games use graphics and/or sound to enhance the gameplay, similar to City of Secrets and Necrotic Drift?

See all polls with votes for this game




This is version 7 of this page, edited by Tristano on 21 April 2019 at 5:03am. - View Update History - Edit This Page - Add a News Item